The UIAA is delighted to present the provisional calendar for the 2025-2026 UIAA Climbing season.
The world-level events in the UIAA Ice Climbing calendar commence on 9 January 2026, with the continental circuit kicking off in the middle of November. It promises to be an another enthralling season as the UIAA pushes towards the dream of ice climbing becoming part of the 2030 Winter Olympics – a decision on the sports programme for the Games should be made during the 2026 winter season.
Over 200 athletes from over 25 member associations are set to contest the coveted UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup lead and speed titles. Five venues on three different continents will offer unique ice towers, exciting routes and supreme technical challenges.
World Cups & World Youth Championships
Five events, Five countries, three continents
The season opener will again be held in Cheongsong, South Korea from 9-11 January. The municipality of Cheongsong and the Korean Alpine Federation (KAF) have been a longstanding organiser of UIAA Ice Climbing World Cups and recently committed to hosting events until the year 2030.
After a weekend’s gap to allow athletes to rest after the change in continents, the World Tour heads to Europe for the second round at another of its regular venues. Saas-Fee, Switzerland (22-24 January) has been an ever-present host of UIAA-sanctioned events since 2002 with its distinct ice dome offering a unique structure for competition. Built within the resort entry point, the venue in the Swiss Alps regularly attracts large crowds particularly for Saturday evening’s lead competition. The competition is organised by the experienced team in Saas-Fee and the Swiss Alpine Club (SAC).
The third world level event of the season will be the World Youth Championships which makes a welcome return to the idyllic wintery setting of Malbun, Liechtenstein (6-8 February), which first held the event back in 2018. The competition, which will run parallel with a Continental Cup for senior athletes, is organised in by the Liechtensteiner Alpenverein (LAV).
Another rest weekend will follow to allow athletes to change continents again to return to last year’s debut venue for the World Cup series in Colorado. Longmont will play host to the third round of the World Cup from 20-22 February. The event will be hosted again by the Longmont Climbing Collective and supported by the American Alpine Club (AAC).
The final stop in the series will be a third visit to Edmonton, Canada – 27 February-1 March – hosted by Offbeat Entertain and supported by the Alpine Club of Canada (ACC) – right in the city centre. This follows on from the inaugural event at the venue held earlier this year. As part of this initiative, the general public will be able to test themselves on the ice wall on the Sunday after the competition. Edmonton will crown the World Tour winners.
Event pages – including livestreaming information, event programmes and registration details – will be available in due course on iceclimbing.sport
Quotes
“We’re thrilled to launch the 2026 UIAA Ice Climbing World Tour calendar, returning to iconic venues and expanding our Continental Cup presence across Europe and North America. With the support of our new partners (to be announced in due course), it promises unforgettable moments for both athletes and fans.”
JoAnne Carilli-Stevenson, World Ice Climbing Board Chair
“It’s great to be working with established and experienced World Cup and Continental Cup organisers on the 2026 World Tour. I am especially looking forward to a return to Malbun, Liechtenstein for the World Youth Championships – this was my first event on the World Tour back in 2018! The youth have lots of opportunities to compete this season and I really hope we can grow the future of the sport.
Rob Adie, UIAA Sport Events Coordinator
Reigning World Tour winners
The reigning World Tour overall winners from 2025 are Benjamin Bosshard / Switzerland (men’s lead), Sina Goetz / Switzerland (women’s lead), Mandakhbayar Chuluunbaatar / Mongolia (men’s speed) and Selenge Nyamdoo / Mongolia (women’s speed).
World Championships
The next UIAA Ice Climbing World Championships will be held in 2027. This follows a decision from the World Ice Climbing Board to return to hosting Championships in odd years and for the UIAA and World Ice Climbing Board to work on developments and enhancements to the pinnacle event in the sport.
Continental Opens
A total of seven Continental Opens are being hosted in the 2025-26 season in Slovakia, Switzerland, Czechia, the Netherlands, Liechtenstein, the USA, England and Finland. Young climbers will also have the opportunity to test themselves in more competition environments with events being organised at most of this season’s Continental Opens.
Provisional 2025-2026 Calendar
World Cups
9-11 January – Cheongsong, South Korea
22-24 January – Saas-Fee, Switzerland
20-22 February – Longmont, USA
27 February – 1 March – Edmonton, Canada
World Youth Championships
6-8 February – Malbun, Liechtenstein
Continental Cups & Youth Events
22 November – Bern, Switzerland
29 November – Zilina, Slovakia – Youth Categories
6 December – Brno, Czechia – Youth Categories
13 December – Utrecht, Netherlands – Youth Categories
8 February – Malbun, Liechtenstein – Youth Catgeories
14-15 February – Sunderland, England – Youth Categories
7 March – Oulu, Finland – Youth Categories
The full calendar of events can also be viewed here.
Main photo credit: UIAA/Slobodan Mišković
